The geomancer listened silently, soaking up the information. A sudden, troubling thought struck him. His eyes immediately narrowed and he frowned.

"Is there any dirt down there? Like real earth, not dust."

His tone was not light and it shouldn't be. How was he to stay in touch with his element if it wasn't there? Out here, in the fields with the tents he was fine. Dirt was literally everywhere. He could feel the bedrock about twenty or thirty feet below the soil. In the sewers it would most likely be all water and slick stone. Iwa's nose wrinkled in disgust. 'Water . . . ugh. I should've given that some thought instead of focusing on this boy.'

_________________

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one."

"Sure, sure," Duke said amiably. He picked up his pace, just enough that Cage wouldn't need to force him to move, then slowed enough to throw a hand over the gambler's shoulder. "I take it that you didn't quite like Bangles, did you? But on the bright side, Ticktock must be finished with you picture by now." Without waiting for an answer, he waved over to Evan, Roger and Iwa stood. They weren't too far off, but seemed to be in a deep discussion of some kind. Kinda when against what he knew of the two swordsmen, but who knew what influences the new kid would have on them.

Evan stared at the man with a raised eyebrow as if to ask 'are you serious?' It was a sewer. If there was any sort of dirt down there, it would be mud. Evan wrinkled his nose as his brain supplied him with a mental image of a mud monster. Not cool, man. He shook his head to get rid of the image but it continued to stay in the back of his mind. The water was bad enough but if there was an actual mud monster, Evan had a feeling he would go on a rampage.

"I'm guessing that's a problem," he deadpanned, a trickle of dread filling him. He did not like the man's tone. It meant bad things.

Iwa sighed and shook his head. "Only to my preferences. It won't stop me from fighting, if that's what you're thinking." He decided to leave it at that and kept silent, walking away to examine the weapons shop.

He spotted clean bandages and immediately thought of his own filthy wraps, but kept the want to himself. It wasn't really up to him what the group bought, though he wished they would hurry up. The image of the dank sewers wasn't doing much for his morale.

_________________

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one."

"They won't come over to you... they never will... just like... never mind..."

Cage stepped away from Duke and headed for his allies, mentally forcing himself to not say anymore. The more he said, the worse it would get for him. The pain and anger he held inside him for himself would escape. The pain of the fact that he couldn't save them. The pain of losing his sisters.

Duke grabbed Cage's shoulder, holding him back. He turned the gambler around and looked at him with a strange look in his eyes, the normal humorous glint missing. "What so you mean, 'they won't come over'?" Duke questioned. The look changed to guarded curiosity. "Come on Cage, talk to me. If you don't, you know I'll pester you unceasingly about it. And annoying people is something I do well."

Cage looked at the Trick Step, his eyes filled with unwillingness and then, acceptance. He stopped short, looking down at the ground, there was no getting out of this. Looking back up, it was like he had been punched in the gut, his locked up pain ready to overflow.

"M... My sisters... They wouldn't come with me... they're not..."

He came so close, his energy was so built up. A tear broke through, but he quickly wiped it away before it was noticeable. He looked back towards his other allies, desperately wishing he could have just moved over to them.

"They're not around... the picture is the last thing I have..."

Cage quickly broke the connection Duke had made with him. Turning from him and wiping his eyes once more. He began to walk away from the trick step, not wishing to continue the conversation anymore. He didn't look back at his ally, but he did speak one last time.

"Come on... we're keeping the others waiting..."

With that he began to walk towards his other allies, severing the connection. At least... for now.

"Ya... coming," Duke said. He didn't push Cage anymore, he too had his limits. He leaned against a tent's support pole as he watched Cages back walk away. It seemed sad and burdened. Had he done the right thing in forcing him to talk? Personally, he felt so. It gave Cage someone to share the load, instead of suffocating beneath the weight of his problems, all alone. If Cage kept it up, he would destroy himself. Duke sighed and cleaned out his ear. He wasn't used to such philosophical thinking. He turned and Kicked the tent. It shuddered and collapsed.

Roger shrunk back and blushed slightly at Evan's mentioning of his immense strength. "I-I had to be powerful...or I couldn't have survived on the island...," he muttered in an odd mixture of embarassment and misery. He shook it off though in order to stand by what he said before. It seemed like it wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Iwa should go ahead and 'go shopping' for the equipment he needs," Roger suggested again, a bit more confidently, but still utterly frightened. "If we linger for too long....R-Ruby might come and find us...."

The sound of something crashing shook Iwa out of his head, soon enough that Roger's words carried to him and he actually heard them. Three of them had suggested he get new gear, so he didn't see the harm in it. Besides they were right; he'd be more of a hindrance if he couldn't keep up, so why not make sure that he could?

He stripped his dirty bandages, stuffing them in a pocket, and picked up the clean, white ones. Without waiting for the quartermaster to ask him what the hell he was doing, he produced the correct amount of gold from somewhere, set it on the counter, and walked away to the next tent. He repeated the process with a set of brown robes he found there and disappeared around the back where no one was looking to change. He walked back around the corner rewrapping his hands, covering the numerous callouses.

As much as it felt nice to have clean clothes, Iwa missed the feeling of his element close to his skin. In remedy, he bent and grabbed a handful of earth and rubbed it into his new wraps and relished the sensation. Iwa mused for a moment that what he was doing seemed a little crazy, but he figured whatever kept him happy was fine.

[450 gold lost]

[Received Clean Bandages, Brown Robes--Equipped by Iwa]

_________________

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one."

Hearing the crash, Evan snapped his head up in time to see Duke run from a tent that had collapsed. His hands twitched toward his weapons. It was obvious what the idiot had just done. Quickly, he stopped himself and let out a breath. No point in attacking the male. He didn't want to deal with any problems. Not until they went back into the sewers.

"Well, that strength's a good thing for us," he said to the boy. He didn't think too much on what Iwa was doing, Evan could already tell the man rather liked the earth, and turned over to where the emo kid and the idiot were. "If you guys are going to come over, hurry it up! If we take any longer, she's going to rip our heads off!" Again, he crossed his arms, a look of annoyance appearing on his face. "Let's just buy another item or two and get moving already."

Actually, he wasn't going to wait on them anymore. They were taking too damn long. Evan glanced down at Roger and pointed at a tent, indicating he was going to get a few things. With that, he walked briskly inside, eyes already scanning the wares. In a moment, he had decided and grabbed a key, probably for a chest, and a herb. Counting the coins, he handed them over to the clerk and left as quickly as he had entered.

"Alright, we're done," he stated as he returned to Roger and Iwa, Cage and Duke just a little ways away. "Let's get moving."

Cage shifted towards the group only to find them getting the necessities. Deciding they could clearly handle the shopping, Cage disappeared. He went to find Quartz, who said he was to be located at Research Tent. Quickly making his way to the tent, he entered, immediately speaking up as he entered.

The Research Tent was very quiet and filled with scientists performing various experiments on steel tables. There were miniscule in the ceiling to allow fumes and smoke to escape. Upon entering, a few scientists told him to hush, but Quartz quickly approached the gambler from the back of the tent.

"Calm yourselves, you uptight fools," he reprimanded, a big grin on his face. He turned to face Cage. "You're not going to believe this, but things didn't quite turn out the way I had imagined them. It's best if you saw it for yourself." He opened his overcoat and reached into the inside pocket only to produce a perfectly good picture. He turned it over to show Cage what it was a picture of. It was his picture. Not a single trace remained that gave off a signal that it had been burned. It was as if the picture had just been taken; the signs of tribulation it had been through were completely gone.

"I am not sure how I did it, but this is the result. A rather good one, no? It turned out different than I imagined because I haven't tried it out before, but I based it on the principles of how I mend injuries. Just a bit of concentration and it came to life instantly," he explained.

The explanation went right past him. He couldn't believe it. Cage merely stood staring at the object that had once been his burnt and destroyed picture. The disbelief behind it all, the fact that it was perfect, was stunning. He suddenly looked at Quartz, his thoughts fleeing and emotion taking over.

He made his move. Swiftly bringing his lips against Quartz, his entire body lost in the bliss of his emotions. He knew the reaction he might get, and that Ruby might just bash his head later, but he didn't care. All he cared about right now was what Quartz had done for him. He pressed his lips against the Time Lord's a little more, closing his eyes for just that one moment.

And then it was over. He pulled away, hesitant at first, and then all together. His thoughts came back to him, his mind changing his emotions in a second. He blushed instantly, looking at Quartz like he had done something horribly wrong. He tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn't form the words required. He looked down at the floor and then up at Quartz, still unable to speak.

Every single scientist in the tent had stopped their experiments and were now gazing at the pair, shocked. Quartz was taken aback; he could only manipulate time, not tell the future. He didn't try to repel Cage. Instead, he just let it happen. His big grin didn't fade, even after Cage looked about in embarassment.

"I take it that you're happy with the results then?" he said with a slight chuckle. "A 'you're welcome' would have been just as good, but I suppose that will have to do." He turned to the scientists and waved his hands, expressing to them that they should probably continue their work. "If you ever need anything else, you know where to find me. You'll probably want to get back to your friends though, right? When Ruby gives orders, she likes to see results...fast." He chuckled again, but more out of nervousness than anything, almost as if he knew Ruby were watching at that very instant.

Cage's blush turned to fear. He nodded quickly, and was out of the tent with the restored picture in seconds. Returning to where his allies had been previously, he tried to blend back in with them. He doubt it worked, someone was likely to notice he had gone running off. What they didn't know was what happened, only he, Quartz, the scientists, and possibly Ruby had seen it.

There was no need for anyone to answer. Ruby was watching and if they lingered any longer, it would be game over for them. With their new ally, the group departed the encampment and crossed the grassy meadow only to enter the ancient waterway once again through the cavern they had just come from.

Once inside the waterway, the group realized that things were oddly...empty. There appeared to be no fairies lingering about, nor overgrown earthworms. Worst of all, it seemed that all the crabs had disappeared too. Taking down the fairy queen must have had some impact on the civilization that dwelt in the waterway after all. After looking around more closely, however, the group discovered a hole in the cavern wall around the area they fought the fairy queen. With nowhere left to go, they entered. They went down a fairly long, dark tunnel only to end up at a small spring. Gemstones were embedded in the walls of the cavern, lighting the area with a light blue glow that was fueled by natural mana streams. Moss grew on the slick, cold, stone floor. At the opposite end of the area was the spring--a small pool of water with a small waterfall dumping its contents into it.

That wasn't the main interest. Right at the edge of the pool were four large hermit crabs that turned around and started snapping their claws angrily as the party intruded on their territory. They glared at the party angrily. The group could only defend themselves at this point; running wasn't an option, for they'd just perish at the hands of Ruby for not getting the meat. So, it was time for another good ol' waterway showdown.

Cage stepped behind Roger, looking around at the crystals and crabs before them. To obtain the meat they required would take careful planning, and they could not mess up. Dropping his cards, he prepared to think at least 5 moves ahead.

The geomancer grumbled at all the water, suddenly very thankful he'd had the foresight to rub some fresh dirt into his bandage wrapped hands. It was all slick stone and waterfalls, just as he'd feared. 'Get used to it, you might be down here a while.' With that, Iwa forced the rest of his thoughts away and focused, settling into a martial arts combative stance.

_________________

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one."

Due sighed. It looked like his usual plan (rush in and stomp them to bits) would be of much use here. Leave it to Red-gem to give them something this annoying to do. Neither was he too thrilled to be back in the sewers, but he was not stupid enough to complain were she could hear.

"I can't believe we're down here again," Evan grumbled as he took his place next to Iwa. The time mage had just reverted his clothing back to their original state too. With a mental sigh, he prepared himself for what was to come. Hopefully, Quartz wouldn't mind doing it again.

The hermit crabs looked like they meant business, so Roger didn't waste any time and drawing his large knightsword, the tip of which instantly slammed into the floor, for Roger still wasn't used to the weight of it and probably never would be. His legs shaking slightly, he dragged the sword along the ground before suddenly tossing it up into the air where it halted, became enveloped in a dark blue aura, angled itself towards one of the crabs, and shot down where it stabbed its target. Roger held out his hand for the sword to return, knowing it was likely to...

Roger fell down thanks to the force at which the sword returned to him. He managed to scramble back up quickly, his bottom hurting a bit, in order to defend himself against any attacks that the crabs might launch in return.

Roger uses Interference on Landor! 18 Dmg! (ATK)

MP: 17/25

Last edited by Masquerade on Sat Sep 18, 2010 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

The geomancer strode forward towards the crab, intoning a short chant before clapping his hands together. Instead of an echoing clap, however, it was more like a dull thud. Iwa's hands were encased in fist-shaped rock, which he quickly put to use. He punched downward with a teeth-gritting crack! and shouting, "Kyahh!"

_________________

"We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one."